Sick in bed :/

Which totally blows. I hate being sick, it’s the most miserable feeling in the world. And after the six-week flu/bronchitis saga that threatened to ruin my last semester of college, I’m extremely worried that it’s back with a vengeance. But for now, I’m in bed, eating real food (well, Outback. It’s as close as one can get here.) and drinking lots of water. Oh, and uploading pictures!

Last weekend we were invited out to dinner by our friend Gabe, who has been in Seoul for almost a year and is the resident restaurant aficionado here at SEV. He took us to Apgujeong to a restaurant called Mercado, a Brazilian all-you-can-eat steakhouse that only costs you 25,000 won. That’s less than $20 in America, with the way the markets have been going. We were even given free Coke and Sprite because we had to wait about five minutes for our table. Here’s how this place works:

They give the table family-sized portions of rice, potato salad, regular salad and a weird pico de gallo-type dish. Then the waiter starts to bring out the steak on skewers and platters. Every few minutes, a different kind of meat comes out.

Top choices of the night: meat wrapped in bacon, giving it a smoky taste, and steak topped with a ton of garlic. Both nearly melted in my mouth. Most memorable dish: duck heart. Erin, David and Karen were the only ones brave enoguh to try it. More power to them, but I’ll stick with my cow (and occasionally pig, apparently). It was described it as “really fatty” (Erin), “not bad” (Karen) and “almost good,” (David) so I don’t think I’ll be trying duck heart anytime soon.

I ate myself into what can only be described as a food coma, yet somehow managed to summon the energy to hightail it to Itaewon with David and Gabe to check out a hotel bar.

Hotel bar actually sounds really dive-y, which this truly wasn’t. The hotel is set up on top of a hill and overlooks the city. The views were absolutely astounding.

View of Seoul from the hotel

Unfortunately, the food coma got the best of all of us and we called it a night fairly early. Mercado was a great time, but I don’t think my stomach can handle too many trips there. That’s not to say, of course, that I won’t be going again. Some of my friends here have yet to go and want to experience the magic…

3 comments

my computer is still not up and running so no private communication for now. Still, I’m sorry to hear you aren’t feeeling well – please don’t rush your recovery (you’ll just end up being sick longer!). I love you! (and miss you more than you can imagine!)

Hey, John! Like I said, it’s in Apgujeong. It’s a little tricky to find and I haven’t been in a few months, but I believe if you go down the alley right next to Ho Lee Chow, it will be on your left, across from a coffee shop (Tom n Tom’s, maybe?). It’s on the third floor. Enjoy!